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| (Jenna O'Malley/PitchBook News) |
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The recent decadelong market boom propelled venture capital's cultural status, luring droves of young finance workers whose jobs the industry can no longer afford.
I'm Rosie Bradbury, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at rosie.bradbury@pitchbook.com or on X @_RosieBradbury.
Over two years on, as liquidity remains elusive, more and more junior investors are seeing the writing on the wall and exploring new directions for their careers.
"Many of them are lucky that their GPs will continue to let them be on the payroll, with the common understanding that they will be looking for something new," said Will Champagne, founder of SCGC, a boutique headhunting firm for VC funds.
Equal Ventures managing partner Rick Zullo agrees: "We’ve already seen a fair amount of defections out of venture, and I hear more are coming."
The VC job market is excruciating: Promotions are taking longer, compensation rates are flatlining, and firms are even deflating titles, said Champagne.
Ask 10 VCs what they'd be doing if they weren't an investor, and 11 of them would say that they'd be a founder.
But in reality, going from a cushy mega-fund to a scrappy startup can come with some real tradeoffs that some aren't willing to swallow. |
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During its first-ever Spring demo day, Y Combinator's startups went all-in on AI agents, debuting new tools and use cases. Steadily, YC cohorts have become increasingly concentrated on AI agents, with this latest batch having the largest share of these startups. What was the share of AI agent startups in YC's Spring 2025 batch?
A) 33.1%
B) 56.8%
C) 46.5%
D) 23.4%
Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch! |
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How Asia-Pacific IPO
markets are being rebuilt
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Asia-Pacific IPO markets are entering a new era—one that is narrower and more selective but far from closed. In this analyst note, we examine how public listings have evolved from a default exit path to a strategic liquidity tool in Asia-Pacific's private capital markets.
From India’s surge in VC-backed IPOs to China’s policy-driven constraints and Southeast Asia's persistent scalability gaps, we explore which countries and sectors are still supporting meaningful exits. Backed by PitchBook's IPO Predictor, we also identify where the next wave of listings is likely to come from and what it will take to succeed in a fundamentals-first public market environment. |
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PE gets rolling again
in transportation, logistics
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PE dealmaking in the transportation and logistics industry is showing signs of a rebound, after several years of decline since 2021's peak, according to our debut report on the space.
PE-backed companies in the sector hauled in $3.7 billion across 43 deals in Q1. Marine and air freight specialists led in total deal value, while trucking and warehousing topped deal counts—pointing to renewed investor interest across the supply chain.
The report also covers the crosscurrents shaping the transportation and logistics market, from trade tensions and inflation risks to sustainability imperatives and tech adoption. |
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| (Josie Doan/PitchBook News) |
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"If every 2021 private market valuation stayed and nobody went to IPO until they cleared that hurdle, I think we’d be waiting a really long time. It’s just a natural unclogging of the market that has to happen, and I think investors have finally gotten comfortable with that."
—Ryan Zauk, a fintech-focused investor at OMERS Ventures speaking to PitchBook on the reality of more down-round IPOs following Chime's public market debut. The startup's IPO listed 54% below its valuation peak. |
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Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:
- Q1 2025 US PE Middle Market Report
- Q1 2025 Real Assets Report
- Q1 2025 Medtech VC and PE Trends
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